The venue was the Brisbane Powerhouse and staff at Evos were dressed like rock star roadies as they set up for the launch of their new product – a charger designed for easy install and uninstall, packed with software and aimed at the Australian fleet market.
There are 19,000 car fleets in Australia with more than 20 vehicles, according to Chris Crossman, who with co-founders and fellow ex-Tritium employees Marcelo Salgado and Seshan Weeratunga secured $1.7 million in seed funding in July to help Evos to claim a piece of the government fleet EV charging pie.
Crossman sees the biggest issue for fleets as the cost of energy more than the cost of vehicle or driving range. The Evos unit is programmed to seek energy at the lowest cost.
We knew we were in a high tech area when we parked amongst numerous Teslas. Many of the Evos engineers have worked at Tritium and the audience was sprinkled with past Tritium associates.
Fleets have a variety of needs in charging, and so Evos provides differing solutions, home workplace depot on route. Fleets use a variety of vehicles so must be able to charge all vehicles. The unit is designed so that a cable can be replaced with ease (clips in and out like a hose) in case it gets damaged.
The unit is like ET, it knows when to phone home. It is constantly connected for over-the-air updates to add features and request support.
Ampol’s Brent Merrick was on hand for the launch. The charger will be sold from December through Ampol, with strata companies able to purchase the charger for their properties through LPE. It will be generally available from Evos Energy.
“As the charger is designed to be easy to install; and uninstall without the need for a technician, it is equally ideal for the EV owner needing to charge while managing their electricity bills, and for fleet managers looking to help drivers charge at home efficiently,” said Salgado via a statement.
“Evos’ revolutionary ecosystem will automatically manage the best time, speed and rate for the charger to recharge the vehicle.”
To prove how easy this is, they had a team member uninstall the charger with just a power screwdriver as we watched.
It’s great to see a company enabling fleets to move over to electrification. This will feed into a vibrant second-hand EV market in a few years come.
David Waterworth is a researcher and writer, a retired school teacher who continues to provoke thought through his writing. He divides his time between looking after his grandchildren and trying to make sure they have a planet to live on. He is long on Tesla.